Success Stories from the Field

Each day, thousands of men and women work to improve the experience of victims of crime in the criminal justice system. This is done through changing legislation, creating innovative programs, and providing services. The following stories have been selected to represent all of those people and programs that are particularly effective. Theses stories have been collected from government officials, victim service providers, non-governmental organizations and individuals who work to inspire change and to develop and improve victim assistance programs.

This section of the resource guide contains eight success stories from across Canada. In these stories we hear the unique perspectives of those intimately involved with victim issues. The successes that each story represents is indicative of the advances that have been made over the past three decades and demonstrate that by finding the way together we can continue to achieve success..

These stories can be used to:  

• offer information about some of the different types of services that exist;
• lead to ideas for projects or programs that can be developed;
• recognize the contributions of victim services workers — both volunteer and professional — in supporting and assisting victims;
• support recruitment efforts by inspiring others to become involved in victim services;  
• encourage victims and their families on their journey toward healing; and
• inspire those who work to support and assist victims of crime to continue their efforts to improve programs and services.